>> tonight, we're inside the caravan crisis. the grueling journey for central american asylum-seekers moving through mexico towards the u.s. border. plus, the big texas senate showdown. the rally cry for a former foe. the president in houston tonight pulling for ted cruz. democratic challenger beth isso o'rourke making it competitive in the deeply red state. >> you all classify yourselves as evangelical. >> how many of you have plan on voting for beto o'rourke? >> while loyal cruz supporters stand by their senator. >> i love him because of his record. voting starting today, could texas turn blue? and tonight mega fever. americans hoping to hit it big in the country's largest jackpot ever. the mega millions now a

record-setting $1.6 billion, but money create mega problems? but first here tonight "the nightline 5."

we're going to take you inside the human caravan heading north

through mexico to the u.s. border. the images have become part of the often overheated political rhetoric as america barrels towards the mid-term elections, but as abc's matt guttman shows us, on the ground tonight there is intense human drama involving men, women, even children putting their lives on the line. >> reporter: tonight the mexican government saying it won't allow this caravan of thousands of foot sourced central americans march further towards the u.s. and president trump calling it a national emergency. >> take your cameras, and go into the middle and search. you're going to find ms-13 and middle eastern, you're going to find everything, and guess what, we're not allowing them in our country. >> reporter: so we took our cameras again today into that my grant caravan and what we found were desperate families. the caravan's ranks have swollen since it began 500 miles away and a week ago in honduras. about 7,000 people now traveling

north, the shortest route to the u.s., the 1,500 miles to brownsville, texas. they crossed into mexico illegally on friday, some of the migrants tearing through a border gate. they were met with riot police and waves of tear gas. some jumping off the bridge to the river below. yesterday they walked 25 miles to the next town of tapachula and this morning they treated their battered feet and bodies, this baby being treated for heat exhaustion with a syringe full of medicine. five miles into their march they approach the village of viva mexico with good samaritans. more manned more hitching rides. mexican authorities allowing them through. what slowed them was the heat this. wo van, unconscious, and they lay her down but more were coming. medics came and tended to them. blanca has been marching for days with her three children. for blanca there is a serious

concern that the gangs who killed her husband are going to come back for her family and the rest of them, but nothing is worse, she said, than turning back. >> matt guttman, thank you. that caravan and immigration more generally just one of many hot button issues in the closely watched senate race in the border state of texas. tonight despite a truly nasty history between the two of them, president trump is now going to bat for republican senator ted cruz in the lone star state and here's abc's paula ferris. >> reporter: tonight is a moment many thought wou never happen, president trump taking the stage with his former foe, senator ted cruz. >> god bless texas! and g blessredent donald trump. . vote for ted cruz. >> reporter: to shore up support in a state where democrats seem to be gaining ground. >> ted's opponent in this vass

stone-cold phony. >> beto o'rourke in this state is running to the left of elizabeth warren, to the left of bernie sanders, and the state of texas is not going to stand for it. >> reporter: here the senate race between cruz and rising democratic star beto o'rourke is so consequential and surprisingly close. >> we will find enough common grounds to make things better. >> we are going to win this race. >> reporter: texas is a deeply red state, but it's changing and change fast. it sits there as a big red target for democrat. they recognize that if they can start to flip texas, it changes the entire nationwide electoral map. >> reporter: with the mid-term election just weeks away, we traveled to the lone star state to go behind the scenes with both campaigns as they race to the finish line. do you have any energy? front and center in this state, imsglags what if we the people of texas were to reright, for example, our immigration laws in our own image and in our

borders and keep our communities and families safe? >> reporter: in recent days trump announced he's considering militarization of the border. yes or no, do you support militarizing the border? >> militarizing is a politically charged room. we need to deploy whatever resources are necessary. >> reporter: that's a yes. >> if you have a caravan of thousands of people pledging to violate the laws and cross here illegally, of course we should do whatever is necessary. >> reporter: congressman o'rourke sees things differently. he grew up in the border town of el paso and speaks fluent spanish. you say you want to secure the borders. can you do that without a wall? can you do that without militarizing the border? >> we don't need a wall to answer the question. we don't need to militarize the border f.things are so desperate in guatemala, honduras, el salvador that someone would risk their lives to come here, then what can we do to improve

conditions there? >> reporter: his stance on immigration is not the only thing going against the grain in this state that's been red for decades. you're pro gun control and pro immigration and pro choice and pro pot. >> i may characterize the positions you described a little differently but what i'll tell you in each of them i found the common ground in the state of texas. these are human value tds, american values and texan values. >> reporter: are they too progressive for texas? >> no. >> reporter: o'rourke's campaign strategy is to appeal to the common man and has made an effort to travel to every co&-p >> just human beings, real people making this happen. >> reporter: and expanded his brand nationally through social media, live streaming everything. >> reporter: and it's worked. he's raised an extra $38 million in the last three months. so we're backstage getting ready to talk to the man that is captured texas and the entire country. how do you translate the

momentum into turnout? >> so you show up everywhere. we -- we have one of the most simple obvious strategies that i've seen employed in a modern campaign. we just literally show up everywhere all the time for everyone. >> reporter: cruz has opened up a bit of a wider lead, but everyone attached to the campaign knows it is a potentially soft lead. >> reporter: for senator ted cruz his campaign strategy, deeply texas. so this is a legitimate stockyard where we are getting ready to witness this ted cruz rally. >> i don't even know what the heck that is. >> i love him because of his record. he fought for our religious liberty and second amendment rights. >> reporter: one of the st. super supporters maggie wright has followed cruz for years, even moving to iowa during his presidential run. is there a more fanatical supporter senator. >> no, for my 50th birthday my

husband wanted to know what i wanted. >> reporter: i'm afraid to hear what you said. >> i want ted cruz for president. >> reporter: he lost that race and now he's aligning himself with the man who won to the surprise of many. >> i'm proud to work hand in hand with president trump. >> reporter: you have said terrible things about each other. >> he's a pathological liar. >> lyin' ted. >> you're a sniffling coward and lev heidi alone. >> reporter: are those things not true? >> i have no interest in revisiting the comments of 2016. >> reporter: you've moved on. >> i've got a job to do. >> reporter: and the president cozying up as well. >> he's not lyin' ted anymore. he's beautiful ted. i call him texas ted. >> reporter: is he your friend or foe? how do you describe the relationship? >> he oats president and i work with the president in delivering on our promises. >> reporter: cruz touts his track record to galvanize the vote. >> they need to go out and vote. texas is booming, the economy is going great and yet my opponent,

beto o'rourke, he wants higher taxes, higher regulation and go back to the obama economy stagnation. that would be really bad for the state of texas. >> reporter: last week his opponent took a page out of donald trump's playbook, even though o'rourke has vowed to run a positive campaign. >> he's dishonest. that's why the president called him lying ted and why the nickname stuck because it's true. that wasn't the best phrase for me to use. something that leapt to mind as he began the debate with another lie, and there you go. i'm going to do my best to stay focused on the future. >> reporter: and part of that focus is in attracting minority voters. >> i look at beto o'rourke, and it seems like he has a feel and a love and a need to help all people, not just a select group. >> as a first generation mexican, mexican-american now, a mother and a teacher, he stands for the values that i stand for. >> the idea that texas is ripe for the picking, it's powered by the growing minority population,

the growing young voter population. it's almost inevitable that texas turns blue. the question is did beto o'rourke find this moment? >> reporter: this race is still up for grabs, and in the current political climate not everyone is voting down party lines. you all classify yourself as evangelical. >> how many of you plan on voting for ted cruz? crickets. how many of you plan on voting for beto o'rourke? >> me. >> reporter: and for most of these women this is the first time they will be voting for a democrat. for so long the foregone conclusion was the republicans would get the evangelical vote. >> i think what we've seen happening is the -- is the systematic oppression of people of color, of people who are seeking asylum, of refugees, of -- of women, and it feels like a lot that have is coming from the republican party. >> reporter: at this point what beto done to earn your vote? >> given me a broader option.

he has said i'm going to work on both side. he said i'm not running like for the democratic party. i'm running for the people. >> reporter: cruz's supporters see their votes as value-based, foo. >> thank you and god bless you. >> big fan of ted cruz, everything he stands for, and i think the less government intervention, the better. >> we're sticking with our conservative values and supporting ted cruz all the way. >> reporter: with early voting beginning today, the stakes are only getting higher as we wait to find out if this red state will turn blue. for "nightline" i'm paula ferris in dallas. >> big thanks to paula, and a reminder, abc news is america's mid-term destination. with abc news live, the live streaming service available 24/7 at abcnews.com and on all of your devices, and with the numbers and the races changing practically by the hour, check in every day with the numbers gurus at 538.com to get their up

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lottery fever is spreading across the u.s. with the highest jackpot ever up for grabs in this country. more now on what that mega money could mean for the lucky winner. >> reporter: it's official. the lottery bug has bitten

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finally here tonight, what does it mean to live your life on the basketball court? can you tell me your name, please. >> my name is lebron james. >> lisa leslie. >> shaquille o'neal. >> magic johnson. >> pat ryan. >> but really my name is coach. >> they call me the ice man. >> jim boeheim. >> jim calhoun. >> rub colobo. >> cheryl miller. >> john calipari. >> mike krzyzewski. >> christian later in. >> adam silva. >> my name is david stern. >> my name is charles barkley. >> julius irving. >> dirk nowitzki.

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